Index



(No Model.) 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. W. LEBSNITZER. INDEX.

No. 562,310. I Patented June 16, 1896.

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INDEX.

116. 562,310. PatentedJune 16, 1666.

CLASSIFIED BARGAIN zcf n Qffwf'carzd''e viv W msgfaed vvNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE IV. LEESNITZER, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

INDEX.

SPECIFICATION formingl part of Letters Patent No. 562,310, dated June 16, 1896.

Application filed November '7, 1893. Serial No. 490,292. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. LnEsNTTZnR,

of the city of Washington, in the District of' Columbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Indexes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improved index intended for use in advertising and has for objects among others to enable the prospective buyer to conveniently ascertain at a glance the bargains oifered in any special line of merchandise and in particular articles under such line offered by the advertisers, by securing a classiiication and grouping of the articles, as presently more fully described. It also seeks to simplify the advertising problem presented to the merchant and enable him to set before the public in a brief, economical, and yet effective manner the articles he is making special efforts to sell. It also seeks to provide a means whereby the publisher may extend his advertising clientage at a large margin Vof profit and at the same time permit a reduction of his expenses by avoiding the necessity of carrying so large a stock of displaytype.

The invention has for further objects other improvements; and it consists in the index hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a face view, partly diagrammatic, of an index constructed according to my invention; and Figs. 2 and 3 are detail views, on an enlarged scale, of parts of the index.

In carrying out my invention I provide a plurality of columns I and in such columns I arrange lists J of merchandise, the several items coming under each main heading or class beinggrouped together and a permanent heading t' being provided defining the class of the succeeding items. The specilieation of each article of merchandise may briefly set out a description and present former price of the article or such description may be lvaried as desired. Each article of merchandise noted in the lists J is designated bya suitable character o, which characters are preferably numerals l 2, duc. and such character o corresponds with characters O in the list N of merchants presently described.

The class-list K, which I so term for convenience of reference, contains under the heading Contents an alphabetically arrange list of the permanent headings t' and 55 each item of this list K is designated by a character M, preferably a letter of the alphabet, as shown, and which corresponds with the designating-characters m at the heads of the columns containing the specification 6o of goods or merchandise comprised in the particular class so designated. I also provide a merchants list N, containing the name or style of the several advertising houses or firms. Each firm is designated by a character O, usually a number corresponding with the designating-characters o7 of the items or articles in the lists .I of merchandise.

It will be seen that the index comprises references by corresponding characters from the 7o class of goods to the columns containing the articles included in said class, also from said items to the firm or house offering them, so the buyer may'at a glance see the offers made in any particular class all grouped together and may by means of small designating-characters determine the house oifering such article or articles and may alsoby means of such designating character quickly determine how many and what particular articles 8o in any given class are offered by the same house.

It is manifest that an index of the character described and shown would doubtless be read by many who would overlook the items 8 5 if contained in expensive display-advertisements spread in a promiscuous manner through several pages of a paper, as in said index the particular line of goods is definitely indicated and the items of such line are so 9o grouped as to be readily inspected and compared. The convenience whereby this comparison may be instituted is an important feature of my invention, as the prospective buyer is able at a glance to compare the prices of the several merchants for the same articles of the several lines of goods.

By grouping the several classes and articles in the compact form shown a person shopping may conveniently carry the index folded in roo his or her purse and can from time to time refer thereto, or if only going to look at special lines of goods, such as art goods,7 carpets and rugs, millinery or Wraps, can

cut out and carry such particular column or columns in the purse, which with the addition of the merchants list will enable the shopper to instantly refresh his or her mind as to the item or items of special interest offered by all the advertising houses carrying the line of said item or items. One or more of these columns may be carried in the card-case or in the glove and the shopper can readily refer to it in a carriage, in a street-car or on the street.

One of the novel and peculiar features which distinguish my invention from the classification of merchandise, &c., as used in newspapers and other publications, is that it is capable of presenting in regular order and sequence, under its appropriate class, the various prices (from the lowest to the highest, or vice versa) of any single article of merchandise offered by two or more advertisers. Thus the items of all advertisers, under their appropriate classes, may be presented to the eye in a compact, clear, unbroken, and symi consisting of the columns I, the lists J of mermetrical form, as though it were the price current of a single merchant or irm. This is made possible by no other known device. My invention also gives every advertiser of one or more items the advantage of a fullpage advertisement at a cost far below the expense of advertising the same at present.

VVhi-le the improved device very much reduces the cost of advertising it greatly enhances the value of th-e matter advertised, enabling the publisher to charge increased rates which would yield him a larger revenue for a given space than under present practice, while the very low cost of advertising will draw to the columns of his paper the patronage of merchants who rarely if ever advertise on account of the large expenseinvolved.

Now it will be seen that while the cost to the advertisers is reduced, the profits to the publisher will be increased, the result to the advertisers being of greatly increased value. This is effected by so economizing space and grouping and classifying the several items that the publisher can charge higher rates and the advertisers can get results from less space than would be required in the ordinary practice.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. An index substantially as described having a plurality of columns and lists of merchandise therein, a class-list, designatingcharacters applied to the items of such class-list, corresponding characters applied to the columns containing the articles comprised in the items of said list, a m erehants list having a dis- 1 ting'uishing-character applied to each house, and corresponding characters applied to the articles specified in the merchandise-list columns all substantially as set forth.

2. The improved index herein described chandise in the said columns, having headings and having the several items or articles thereunder designated by characters o, the class-list K containing headings corresponding to those in the columns J, corresponding characters applied to said head-ings in list K and to the columns in which they are to be respectively found in the merchants list N and the characters Oi applied to the houses in said list and corresponding with the characters o applied to the articles in lists J all substantially as described and for the purposes specified.

GEORGE lV. LEESNITZ ER.

Witnesses:

P. B. TURPIN, O. A. Pn'r'rrr. 

